BITS & PIECES

Lots of good writers contribute to ongoing story

By Emory SchleyColumnist

Published: Monday, January 21, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, January 21, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

Last Tuesday, I started a new project in this column by printing the first 100 words of a fictional story. Readers were asked to contribute the next 100 words. I thought I might get half a dozen responses or so, but was surprised by receiving 31 responses (so far), each offering 100 words or so to carry the story along. With such a large number of entries, as you might imagine, they ranged from so-so to “Wow, I wish I had written that one.”

Most writers followed the restriction of 100 words, but a few went over that limit by half a dozen words or so. And some used almost double that allotment. The ones that went way overboard on their word counts were disregarded, while the ones modestly over the official count were edited to bring them down to the official limit. A few entries were returned to their authors for revision to pare them down to the appropriate size.

I carefully considered all entries and managed to whittle them down to 10 possible choices, but those 10 were so good it was really difficult coming up with a final selection.

It was a most enjoyable experience and I look forward to the next round of entries. There are some really excellent writers out there among the ranks of the readers of this column.

A couple of entries created a situation that I foresaw as being a dead end to the story almost before it began. A few more were not very realistic, and a couple of them, like the one sent in by Neil Gaston of Summerfield, made me laugh out loud. I’m glad I had the stitches removed from my face yesterday before I saw his entry.

Some writers gave their entries a strong local flavor, such as Mollie Richards, Chris Gresock and Bev Seal.

Making a decision in the face of so many excellent entries was a difficult task, but I finally settled on Linda Youngs’ entry. So here’s how her segment fits into the story so far:

THE BEGINNING: Molly had just hopped into her car, her thoughts heavy with foreboding. It had been almost two years since she had heard from Jack. Now there was a message on her phone saying he needed to talk to her right away.

There had been an urgency in his voice that sent a chill through Molly. She had no idea why he would even bother to look her up after all this time. It had been his idea to leave, and his departure was rather abrupt. Molly had an uneasy feeling as she pulled onto the roadway to go meet Jack.

LINDA YOUNGS’ INSTALLMENT: The parking lot was abandoned, the site of a local burger joint gone belly up. She spotted him at once, a leaning figure towered by a rusty Dumpster. Throwing his cigarette against the pavement, Jack let a slow smile creep across his bearded face. Molly’s car inched forward.

She averted her eyes, stomach clenching, the car stopped.

“Molly?” Jack was at her window now — and that’s when she saw it — a shadow emerging from behind the Dumpster. They were not alone.

YOUR TURN AGAIN: Now make up the next entry in the story and send it to the address at the end of this column. Limit your entry to 100 words please, and make your narrative flow smoothly with the story as printed so far. There are no prizes to be awarded, just the “glory” of becoming a published author, along with all the bragging rights you choose to claim.

If your entry wasn’t chosen the first time around, try again. Don’t be discouraged. Writers often wallpaper their walls with rejection slips before meeting with success. You might also cut out the story and hang on to it for future reference. We don’t have the space to print the entire story each week, and you’ll need to see what has already been printed when coming up with the next installment. Or you can refer to this column and subsequent ones online at ocala.com. Just type my name into the search box and my columns will pop up.

Good luck!

Send comments to slyguy73@gmail.com and include your FULL name and town. This column appears each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and online at www.ocala.com.

<p>Last Tuesday, I started a new project in this column by printing the first 100 words of a fictional story. Readers were asked to contribute the next 100 words. I thought I might get half a dozen responses or so, but was surprised by receiving 31 responses (so far), each offering 100 words or so to carry the story along. With such a large number of entries, as you might imagine, they ranged from so-so to “Wow, I wish I had written that one.”</p><p>Most writers followed the restriction of 100 words, but a few went over that limit by half a dozen words or so. And some used almost double that allotment. The ones that went way overboard on their word counts were disregarded, while the ones modestly over the official count were edited to bring them down to the official limit. A few entries were returned to their authors for revision to pare them down to the appropriate size.</p><p>I carefully considered all entries and managed to whittle them down to 10 possible choices, but those 10 were so good it was really difficult coming up with a final selection.</p><p>It was a most enjoyable experience and I look forward to the next round of entries. There are some really excellent writers out there among the ranks of the readers of this column.</p><p>A couple of entries created a situation that I foresaw as being a dead end to the story almost before it began. A few more were not very realistic, and a couple of them, like the one sent in by Neil Gaston of Summerfield, made me laugh out loud. I'm glad I had the stitches removed from my face yesterday before I saw his entry.</p><p>Some writers gave their entries a strong local flavor, such as <b>Mollie Richards, Chris Gresock</b> and <b>Bev Seal</b>.</p><p>Also submitting entries were <b>Helen Helvenston, Isabella Marshall, Marilyn Buss, Linda McCray, Dan Wright, Jim Erskine, Ruth McIntyre, Thomas D. Endicott, Ron Rynkowski, Suzanne DePascale, Karen Silk, Sylvia Strong, Donna Hurn, Barbara Talmage, Beverly Byrne, Laurie Smith, B.J. Leckbee</b> and <b>Jerry T. Corr</b>.</p><p>Making the final consideration were <b>Mary Ann Jachna, Cindy Bryan, W.D. O'Brien, Ann Simpson, Katrina Wartenberg, Clainie Dillard, Wanda Keck, Ronnie Remonda</b> and <b>Mollie Richards</b>.</p><p>Making a decision in the face of so many excellent entries was a difficult task, but I finally settled on Linda Youngs' entry. So here's how her segment fits into the story so far:</p><p><b>THE BEGINNING:</b> Molly had just hopped into her car, her thoughts heavy with foreboding. It had been almost two years since she had heard from Jack. Now there was a message on her phone saying he needed to talk to her right away.</p><p>There had been an urgency in his voice that sent a chill through Molly. She had no idea why he would even bother to look her up after all this time. It had been his idea to leave, and his departure was rather abrupt. Molly had an uneasy feeling as she pulled onto the roadway to go meet Jack.</p><p><b>LINDA YOUNGS' INSTALLMENT:</b> The parking lot was abandoned, the site of a local burger joint gone belly up. She spotted him at once, a leaning figure towered by a rusty Dumpster. Throwing his cigarette against the pavement, Jack let a slow smile creep across his bearded face. Molly's car inched forward.</p><p>She averted her eyes, stomach clenching, the car stopped.</p><p>“Molly?” Jack was at her window now — and that's when she saw it — a shadow emerging from behind the Dumpster. They were not alone.</p><p><b>YOUR TURN AGAIN:</b> Now make up the next entry in the story and send it to the address at the end of this column. Limit your entry to 100 words please, and make your narrative flow smoothly with the story as printed so far. There are no prizes to be awarded, just the “glory” of becoming a published author, along with all the bragging rights you choose to claim.</p><p>If your entry wasn't chosen the first time around, try again. Don't be discouraged. Writers often wallpaper their walls with rejection slips before meeting with success. You might also cut out the story and hang on to it for future reference. We don't have the space to print the entire story each week, and you'll need to see what has already been printed when coming up with the next installment. Or you can refer to this column and subsequent ones online at ocala.com. Just type my name into the search box and my columns will pop up.</p><p>Good luck!</p><p><i>Send comments to slyguy73@gmail.com and include your FULL name and town. This column appears each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and online at www.ocala.com.</i></p>